We knew the Washington Nationals pitching might pose a problem to the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Championship Series. But, I do not think anyone would have even thought the Cardinals bats would have gone this silent.
In the first game of the NLCS at Busch Stadium on Friday, the Cardinals only collected one hit in nine innings during a 2-0 St. Louis loss. This was a Jose Martinez single in the eighth inning off of Nationals starting pitcher Anibal Sanchez. It should be noted that the Cardinals offense struggled against one of the Nationals’ regular starters, but not one of their aces. Sanchez pitched seven and two thirds of unbelievable baseball, where he had five strikeouts and one walk, before handing the baseball over to Sean Doolittle, who had an inning and a third of shutout baseball in collecting the save.
In the second game of the NLCS on Saturday at Busch Stadium, it was much the same. The Cardinals were unable to connect with the baseball due to the remarkable pitching by Max Scherzer. The Cardinals only had three hits the whole game, as Scherzer threw seven complete innings and had outstanding control as he had 11 strikeouts compared to two walks. In the two innings of relief, the Cardinals did score one run in the eighth inning, but was simply not enough in a 3-1 Washington win.
The Nationals now have the luxury of going with Stephen Strasburg for game three of the series on Monday, leading the best out of seven series two games to none. Strasburg led the National League with 209 innings pitched and 18 wins.
Meanwhile in the American League, it is ok if you think it was strange that Canadian starting pitcher James Paxton of Ladner, British Columbia only pitched two and a third innings for the New York Yankees against the Houston Astros in game two of the ALCS on Sunday. Paxton only gave up one earned run before leaving the mound. The Astros won 3-2 in 11 innings due to a solo home run by Carlos Correa to tie the series at one game apiece.
